


Burn Like Jupiter

by ImperialAxis



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26402047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialAxis/pseuds/ImperialAxis
Summary: It all began when Summer made Raven a plushie reproduction of herself.
Relationships: Raven Branwen/Summer Rose
Comments: 3
Kudos: 75





	Burn Like Jupiter

“Hey Rae, you know what’s super-duper exciting?” Summer had run up to Raven, and was obviously hiding something behind her back.

Raven just snorted derisively at her partner and kept walking back to their dorm. “Who says ‘super-duper’?”

“I got you a one month anniversary present!” Summer practically sang out the answer to the question Raven had never asked and had never wanted to know.

“First of all, I’m not interested. Secondly, and I know that I’m going to regret asking this, what anniversary?”

“You mean you don’t know?” Summer effortlessly kept up with Raven as she subtly increased her pace, hoping in futility that she could create some space between them. “It’s been exactly one month since we became partners!”

“Oh.” Raven shrugged. It had been a strange month. It felt like more than a month. Mostly because of her motormouth teammates Tai and Summer and their insistence on caring about one another and the power of friendship or some shit. Things like that rubbed her the wrong way, every time. So she’d done her best to concentrate on learning, and on her mission. 

“So I made you this!” Summer revealed the object that she had been hiding, a small plushie that looked just like her, complete with cape and wide-eyed stare.

Raven stopped walking, and stared. It was a smaller, softer, cuter version of Summer. Not that either of them were cute to begin with. There was just one question. “Why?”

“Weeeeeell...” Summer’s eyelashes fluttered bashfully. “I’ve sort of noticed that you’ve been having trouble sleeping this entire time, so I did something that would help me if I was in your situation. Having a friend nearby always makes me feel more relaxed!”

“You are not my friend. Don’t think that just because I tolerate you I actually like or care about you.” Raven rolled her eyes and continued walking.

“Sure, sure.” Summer just nodded condescendingly and followed close behind, still holding up the plushie as if Raven was going to take it. “If you promise to take good care of mini-Summer I’ll bake you your own personal batch of cookies.”

“How many cookies is a batch?” Despite her best efforts to constrain herself, Raven’s mouth watered at the thought. She had never had cookies before the first time Summer had made them for everyone. They were overbearingly sweet, like Summer. It was the only kind of team activity that she was willing to accept.

“Thirty-two.” 

“Fine.” Raven swiped the mini-Summer out of the real Summer’s hands. “If you cheat me this thing will burn.”

“Ah-ah, say the words.” Summer wagged her finger, a smile on her face. What a sucker, giving Raven a bribe to accept something she had made in the first place.

Sigh. “I promise I’ll take good care of mini-you.”

###### 

It was the middle of the night, and Raven couldn’t sleep. Over the course of the few weeks of her huntress training, she had come to a horrifying realization. Beacon Academy was a far better place to live than the clan. As strange as it was to realize, most of the people here weren’t looking to prove that they were better than you, and none of them secretly wanted you dead. Except maybe Glynda, that one straightlaced classmate who always seemed to have something to grouse about. There were plentiful and constant supplies of food and dust, and it was the first time in her life that Raven had eaten a proper meal every day for more than an entire month.

In other words, she was going soft, and it terrified her. A soft bed was a treacherous thing. Soft beds, full bellies, she felt like she was being fattened up for the slaughter. That was a nonsensical metaphor, of course, given that she and Qrow were being trained to fight better than anyone else in the clan. But it felt real enough to give her nightmares. Nightmares of being caught for betraying both sides at once, and torn apart. In addition to the usual nightmares, of course.

What, then, was one more moment of weakness, since it was buried among thousands of others anyway? That was the excuse Raven used for getting up and going to the place where she had hidden it. The very back of her underwear drawer, the one place that even her brother wouldn’t dare violate the privacy of. 

The plushie was barely visible under the faint light of the fractured moon, but she knew what it looked like well enough. It looked like Summer, someone that Raven had the displeasure of nearly constantly being around. She wasn’t exactly sure what people did with plushies, so she brought it back to bed with her and stared at it uncertainly.

“This is ridiculous.” Raven hurriedly hid the plushie by wrapping her arm around it, intending to put it back before someone saw her with it. But the moment she did, a wave of weariness seemed to sweep over her, and she fell asleep with mini-Summer crushed tightly against her chest.

###### 

Waking up the next morning was a difficult thing to do. It was only the bleary realization that Raven was still very attached to the plushie rendition of Summer in her arms that shocked her into true wakefulness, just in time to hide mini-Summer under the covers before her annoying early bird of a brother noticed what was going on.

Despite that, Raven could have sworn that Qrow stared at her with more of a twinkle in his eye than usual as they ate breakfast. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” Qrow shoveled granola into his mouth innocently.

“Like you’re laughing at me.” Raven glared moodily at him.

“Should I be?” He quirked an eyebrow right as Summer’s alarm went off and she flopped five feet down to the ground to wake herself up.

“Of course not.” Raven carefully avoided looking at Summer. She was wearing slightly ruffled red and white pajamas that had ridden up to reveal her abs and toned stomach. Raven wasn’t embarrassed about her actions the previous night at all.

“Whatever you say, sis.” Qrow winked. He was fucking with her, and now she would never hear the end of it. Shit.

“Mornin’ Qrow, mornin pardner.” Summer mumbled some words through a yawn as she shuffled right past them and into the bathroom, a deviation from her normal habit of eating first thing after getting up. Morning was the only time that Summer didn’t have an amount of energy far exceeding a sane human being, and that didn’t last very long.

“So?” Qrow inclined his head towards the bathroom door.

“So fucking what? Spit it out you bird brain.” Raven rolled her eyes.

“Aren’t you going to join her?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Raven blushed violently.

“Is it not obvious? You can hardly keep your eyes off of Summer, and I heard you saying her name in your sleep last night. It was a real pain in the ass.” Qrow smirked as he dropped his bombshell.

“That was both the most blatant lie and idiotic thing that I have ever head, which is honestly impressive considering that I have lived in the same room as that man for more than a month.” Raven gestured at Tai, who had somehow managed to tie his blankets around his face with a knot he didn’t know in the night.

“That man is a genius of modern day post-ironic comedy.” Qrow immediately rose to the provocation.

“No, you’re just an idiot with a crush on a hot blond twink.” Raven rolled her eyes.

“Just because I can’t see you guys doesn’t mean I can’t hear you, you know.” Tai’s voice was comically muffled by the blanket.

“Nobody asked you.” The siblings responded simultaneously to the lump stuck in his own bed.

“Could you guys at least help me get this thing off? My memory is really _blanket_ ing out on how to untie this knot.”

###### 

About a week and a half after giving Raven the plushie, Summer started behaving strangely. There were small moments during class or in their dorm, instants in which she probably thought that no one was looking, where she would just... wilt. Almost like her namesake. She didn’t seem to be as annoyingly present at Raven’s side anymore, either.

It should have been a relief. Being miserable was natural, and Summer overstayed her welcome more often than not anyway. Seeing her actually act like a normal human being for once should have made Raven’s day. Instead she ended up moping as well.

Raven could barely concentrate on her classes, and she had no idea why. It certainly wasn’t because something was up with Summer. The way that the fluorescent lighting of Professor Port’s classroom reflected off of Summer’s sad puppy dog eyes was bothering her, that was all. Gods, it was annoying. So she cornered Summer after class. It was possibly the first time she had ever deliberately started a conversation with the woman.

“What’s wrong?” Raven had no intention of letting this take long enough for Summer to get the impression that she wanted to be around her.

“Whaddaya mean?” Summer smiled unconvincingly.

“I mean why do you keep moping around when you think nobody’s looking?” Raven crossed her arms and glared down at her partner.

“Oh.” Summer shuffled from foot to foot as she looked at the ground. “It’s dumb. I should just forget it.”

“Obviously if it’s bothering you this badly that isn’t going to work. So what is it?” Raven tapped her foot against the ground impatiently.

“Well...” Summer was as nervous as Raven had ever seen her. “I was sort of hoping that you would give me an anniversary present too, cause I saw that you like mini-Summer and it got my hopes up. But I get it, really. You just don’t like me, it’s okay, I’ll leave you alone...”

“Don’t be stupid. I appreciate your gift.” Raven huffed. What was she saying? Encouraging Summer was a terrible idea. “I never considered giving you something because I may have been raised in an environment where giving someone something was considered to be a sign of submission.” Besides, she had nothing to give. No money, no homebody skills like Summer, nothing. “Since this is bothering you so much, I would give you something, but I’m afraid that all I have to give is time.”

“Time?” Summer’s eyes widened, sparkling again like they had before she’d started moping. “You mean like you’d voluntarily spend time with me?”

Raven sighed. Why did she keep doing these things? “Sure.”

“And we could have a picnic at Beacon Cliff?”

“I don’t turn down free food.”

“And it’d be like... a thing... with... you know... a date?” The last word was practically whispered.

“Sure.” Raven shrugged. She didn’t have anything against dried... whatever fruit dates were made out of. That was a weird question to ask though. Maybe Summer’s family just tended to be picky?

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Summer ran off screaming, seeming to forget that she still had another class today.

For a moment Raven just stood there in confusion. Then she shook her head and moved on, thinking nothing of it.

###### 

“Why did Summer just spend the last thirty minutes interrogating me about your likes and dislikes?” Qrow groused at Raven the moment she got back from her history elective.

“Why don’t you just ask her?” Raven shrugged. She did like the image of Summer holding Qrow hostage and torturing him by just being herself, just a little bit. It would probably make for a good prank someday.

“I did, but I couldn’t believe the answer.” Qrow stalked across the room, flaunting his fraternal tallness genes. “She said it was because you agreed to go to Beacon Cliff and have a picnic with her Saturday night.”

“Yeah. What’s so hard to believe about that?” Raven glared at her dumbass brother.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Qrow was barely containing his laughter. “It was pretty obvious this entire time, actually.”

“ _What_ was obvious?”

Qrow doubled over and collapsed onto his bed as he finally started laughing at her. Obviously, he wasn’t going to explain himself, so Raven gave up, flipped him off, and started sorting through her stacks of upcoming homework in search of something to do.

###### 

Summer was even more energetic than usual in the days leading up to their picnic. Strangely, Raven didn’t find herself minding the presence of her excitable team leader as much as she had before. It was probably just a matter of perspective. Having seen a troubled Summer, Raven preferred it when Summer was happy, even if she was still bothersome, in a way.

Not until it was already too late did Raven consider the possibility that Qrow had lied in his interrogation, and arranged for Summer to cook her a dish that she actually hated. When she tried to find out exactly what Summer was making for the picnic, all she could get was a pair of zipped lips. Raven ended up giving up with a sigh and a reassurance to Summer that she could unzip her lips. It was a reassurance that she immediately regretted as Summer began to gush vaguely about how excited she was.

By the time Summer was willing to leave the dorm, any sane human being had already eaten dinner. She had insisted that they wait until the sun was completely set. Pretty late, given that it was still early September. But nonetheless Raven indulged her, for reasons she didn’t understand in the least.

The evening was a pleasant one, without any wind to interfere with the eating of food in the open air. There wasn’t so much as a cloud in the sky, a detail that Summer was inexplicably obliged to point out as they walked to the cliff together, arms linked.

“Look, you can see Jupiter tonight!” Summer pointed at the sky with her free hand, causing the picnic basket attached to her arm to swing about wildly, and Raven’s blood pressure to spike momentously, along with her concern for the health of her dinner.

“But Jupiter is a planet?” Raven tried to follow where Summer was pointing, but all of the stars in the sky looked pretty much the same to her. She had always been more concerned about the dangers of the land than the wonders of the sky.

“Yeah, and that’s why on a good day it’s waaay brighter than any of the stars.” Summer squinted. “Er, on a good night, I guess. I’ll show you once we’re all set up.”

There was a gentle tug on Raven’s arm, and she realized that she’d stopped walking to stare at the sky when Summer had mentioned Jupiter. Shaking her head, she kept up with Summer, who was already scanning the cliff for the ideal location, despite it having just come into view. The way that her entire head and shoulders twitched and flitted about as she looked and considered all of the available angles reminded Raven of a baby bird curiously pecking at something shiny.

“Here!” Summer started running to her chosen spot with a triumphant shout, forcibly dragging Raven behind her. It was almost oddly disappointing when she unlinked their arms to unpack all of the supplies she had brought.

Raven watched uncertainly as Summer unpacked everything, though the food was still indiscernible due to being wrapped in aluminium foil. The large picnic blanket covered more than enough ground for two people to lay down with a generous spread of food between them, so when it was fully unpacked, that’s what Raven did. Laying down like that was distantly nostalgic, though certainly more comfortable than sleeping on the ground by itself.

“You’re going to love this so much, Qrow said it was your favourite.” Summer stared at Raven, watching for her reaction, as she unwrapped the first dish from its foil.

The first thing that hit Raven was the smell. The rich, sweet, aroma of coconut and pineapple and nuts. That was enough to elicit a gasp from her. She knew what she was being served, even if she couldn’t see it yet. Seeing it was enough for her to need to look away before Summer could see what was wrong with her.

“Is something wrong?” Summer’s voice wavered uncertainly. “It’s your favourite, right?”

Qrow. That asshole. Raven punched the ground as hard as she could. “Yeah. It is.”

“Are you... crying?” Summer covered the coconut curry chicken back up and began to cautiously hover over Raven, almost touching her shoulder, but not quite.

“I don’t cry.” Raven lied brazenly.

“Okay.” Summer settled on sitting next to Raven. “So Qrow tricked me, huh?”

“He wasn’t even supposed to know that I loved that.” Raven didn’t sob, because she wasn’t crying.

“I’m guessing it’s somehow special?” Summer slid one of her hands between Raven’s clenched fists, gently loosening it and slipping in to hold onto her tightly.

“Yeah. Special is the word for it.” Raven sighed, and started wiping streaks off of her face with the sleeve of her dress. What the hell was she doing, letting an entree get the better of her? “Let’s eat?”

“Sure.” Summer squeezed Raven’s hand, then grabbed the pot and started serving.

There definitely weren’t any other tears when Raven started eating. It was delicious. The best she’d ever had, not that her memory from that long ago was likely to be accurate. It was an understood rule that she and Qrow ate in silence, so for a few minutes after that the only sounds were those of the voracious chewing and slurping down of the food that Summer had made for them.

Raven lay back and stared at the sky once she had put away her bowl. She was stuffed and warm, and so was Summer, judging by the groan that came out as she lay next to Raven.

“So, why is coconut curry chicken special?” Summer was looking at Raven instead of the sky.

“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s an unhappy memory that just happens to involve really good food.” Raven sighed. “Anyway, what were you saying about Jupiter?”

“Alright.” Summer moved closer until their shoulders were touching. “It’s right over there.” She took Raven’s hand and guided her to point at a particularly bright spot in the sky.

“It’s pretty.” Raven looked and let her eyes wander about the sky. “I never really noticed them before.”

“The stars?” Summer’s hand drifted back down to the ground, growing more closely intertwined with Raven’s as they fell.

“Right.” Something strange was happening to Raven. Some strange combination of that heady feeling of having a full belly, staring at the clear night sky, and drinking in the rosy scent of Summer being right there, right next to her kept distracting her from the sky and sending her gaze down to Remnant and the woman at her side. To bright red hair and brighter smiles, to silver eyes reflecting the whole of the night sky in themselves. “They’re not as pretty as you are.”

“Hey, I was gonna use that line.” Summer pouted. “It took me two whole days to come up with it.” The hand that held Raven’s changed, and suddenly Summer was on top of her, pinning both hands to the ground with an entirely different kind of starry-eyed expression on her face. “Can I kiss you?” She breathed the words like a breeze.

“Huh? Why would you do that?” Raven was confused. Now that the idea was in her head, it didn’t seem to want to go away, but she had no idea why it was appealing in the first place.

“Because we’re on a date and you just flirted with me?” Summer’s entire posture changed as she switched to a sitting position.

“Speaking of dates, why’d you even ask me about that? I don’t think any of this food has had dates in it.” Raven blushed, furiously trying to ignore the fact that she had, in fact, flirted with Summer.

“Huh?” Summer was dumbstruck. “I meant a date, as in something that you do with someone you like. Romantically. Not the dried fruit. Do you... not know what a date is?”

“I guess not.” Raven stared at Summer, unconsciously licking her lips. “So... are you saying that you have romantic feelings for me?”

“Yes.” All of Summer’s earlier confidence dissipated as she went back to fidgeting with her cloak. “Do you?”

It took a long moment for Raven to respond. At some point, somehow, Summer had become a fixture in her life. And without even realizing it, Raven had gone from tolerating her to being glad of her presence and helping her when she was feeling down. “I don’t know. But... why? How would you ever like me?”

“Cuz you’re awesome. You try to act like you don’t care about anything but then you go out of your way and start doing anything you have to to help people.” Summer smiled gently. “It’s so sweet.”

“That is absolutely not true.” Raven lied for the second time that night.

“But you wanted to help me. Even if you didn’t know what a date was.” Summer didn’t let up, her reassuring smile wearing away at Raven’s heart.

Raven couldn’t bring herself to look Summer in the eye any longer. Instead her gaze drifted down to her lips. “Fine. You may.”

Summer started the kiss oh so gently. Her hands cupped Raven’s face as she came in for a second careful peck on her lips. 

But that wasn’t enough for Raven. She wanted to drink in Summer Rose like the waters of life itself, and her hands said so as they pulled Summer on top of her, then insistently held her head close in a longer, deeper kiss. 

In between quickly escalating kisses and carefully wandering hands Summer took a breath and managed to find words. “Your eyes burn like Jupiter.” Satisfied, she immersed herself in kisses once again. It wasn’t until Summer seemed to decide that things were getting a little bit too heated that they separated, though they still lay with arms and legs intimately tangled together under the light of the moon and stars. 

Raven stared at the glorious woman in front of and all around her. She couldn’t believe it was happening. That Summer could make her feel like she was flying for the first time in her life, that her presence added a lighthearted jocularity she had never seen before to a deathly serious existence, and most unbelievable of all, that Summer wanted her of all people, a bitter and broken woman who betrayed her even as they lay there gasping for air. 

“Don’t let go of me?” Raven didn’t mean to, but in that moment she let something vulnerable surface from the depths of her memory. Flashes of abandonment and confusion.

“I won’t. Not ever.” Summer ran her hands through Raven’s hair, gently lulling her into a food coma.

###### 

“If you open your mouth I will stab you.” Raven greeted Qrow in the usual fashion for the circumstances. The circumstances being that it was a period of time in which Summer had class and she did not, and in the absence of the real thing, she was therefore laying in her bed and reading with mini-Summer resting snugly between her breasts.

“Why don’t you just marry the plushie? Should save everyone a whole bunch of trouble in the long run.” As was usual for the circumstances, Qrow insisted on being a snarky asshole.

“Why don’t you just marry that eight inch dildo you keep in your sock drawer?” Raven didn’t look up from her book. When Qrow’s back was turned, she pressed a quick apology kiss against mini-Summer’s forehead.

“I have never so much as looked in his sock drawer, and am certainly not kept there on a regular basis, thank you very much.” Tai groused. She was outnumbered.

“I’m getting Omen.” Raven shut the book and made to get her sword. Ever since unlocking her semblance she could easily beat any of her teammates in a fight. Being able to open up a portal to any spot on your opponent’s body tended to be helpful.

“Rae, how about instead of stabbing your loved ones you give me a welcome home kiss.” Summer arrived right in time to defuse the situation.

“Fine.” Raven shot Qrow one last death glare before accepting the embrace of the woman she loved.


End file.
